VA Senior Care Benefits in Connecticut: A&A, Home Care & Rocky Hill

If your loved one is a veteran, VA benefits for senior care in Connecticut can pay up to $2,874 a month in Aid and Attendance and cover home care and the Rocky Hill veterans home.1 The challenge usually isn't eligibility. It's knowing what to ask for.

This guide covers every VA program that helps pay for or provide senior care, how to access them in Connecticut, and what happens when VA care isn't enough on its own.

In This Guide

• Key Takeaways
• VA Senior Care Benefits in Connecticut
• The Connecticut State Veterans Home
• Aid and Attendance
• Veteran-Directed Care
• Community Care (MISSION Act)
• How VA Benefits Work with Medicare and Medicaid
• How to Access VA Senior Care Benefits
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Next Steps

VA Senior Care Benefits in Connecticut: Long-Term Care Options

The VA offers multiple long-term care programs.2 Access isn't automatic once a veteran is enrolled: VA also has to conclude the veteran needs that specific service for their ongoing treatment and personal care, and the service, or a space in the care setting, has to be available near them. That list isn't closed, either. VA says it may also consider other factors, like the veteran's service-connected disability status or insurance coverage.6

Home Based Primary Care (HBPC)

A VA physician supervises a health care team that visits the veteran at home.2 HBPC is designed for veterans with complex medical needs who have difficulty getting to a clinic regularly. The team typically includes a doctor, nurse, social worker, and may include rehabilitation therapists and a dietitian.

This isn't the same as home health care through Medicare. HBPC provides ongoing, coordinated primary care at home, not just short-term skilled visits. For veterans who qualify, it's one of the best programs the VA offers.

Adult Day Health Care

Veterans attend a structured daytime program that provides social activities, companionship, recreation, care, and support.2 It also gives family caregivers reliable daytime respite. Programs may be at VA facilities or contracted community adult day centers.

Community Living Centers (VA Nursing Homes)

Community Living Centers are VA nursing centers designed to feel like home, providing nursing-home-level care.2 They serve veterans who need short-term rehabilitation (after surgery or hospitalization), long-term nursing care, hospice care, or respite care.

Community Nursing Home Program

The VA contracts with community (non-VA) nursing homes so veterans can get nursing home care near home.2 For nursing home care specifically, VA says whether its benefits help pay depends on the veteran's income and the level of their service-connected disability.6 The VA covers some extended care under a veteran's standard VA health benefits, and the veteran may still owe a copay: there is no copay for the first 21 days of geriatric or extended care in a 12-month period, and from the 22nd day the VA sets the copay from the level of care and the financial information the veteran gives on VA Form 10-10EC.6 That liability isn't universal. Some veterans don't have to pay these copays at all because of their income level or other special eligibility factors, and a veteran with any compensable service-connected disability rating is exempt from extended-care copayments outright.6,7

Respite Care

The VA provides at least 30 days of respite care per year for caregivers of enrolled veterans.8 Respite can be in-home (a substitute caregiver comes to the house) or facility-based (the veteran stays temporarily in a CLC or community nursing home). Contact the VA Caregiver Support Line at 1-855-260-3274.8

The Connecticut State Veterans Home

Connecticut's single State Veterans Home is the main campus in Rocky Hill, run by the Connecticut Department of Veterans Affairs (CT DVA).3 The campus offers two main programs:

• Residential Programs and Services, a transitional program that gives veterans a continuum of wrap-around rehabilitation services and programs designed to return them to successful independent living.
• The Sgt. John L. Levitow Healthcare Center, which CT DVA describes as a 125-bed skilled nursing facility licensed by the Connecticut Department of Public Health, certified by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and certified annually as a State Veterans Home by the federal Veterans Administration. It cares for veterans with acute and chronic conditions that need daily medical management and provides long-term care for conditions including neurological deficits, diabetes, cardio-pulmonary disease, renal disease, orthopedic and vascular disease, and wound management.3

To qualify for CT DVA residential services, a person must have been honorably discharged from, or released under honorable conditions from, active service in the Armed Forces, and must be a current Connecticut resident or have been a Connecticut resident at the time of enlistment or induction.3 Contact CT DVA for current availability and admission policies.

VA Aid and Attendance

The Aid and Attendance pension is a monthly cash benefit for veterans (or surviving spouses) who need help with daily activities.1

2026 Rates

These rates are effective December 1, 2025 through November 30, 2026. The VA publishes them as maximum annual pension rates; the monthly figure is that yearly amount divided by 12.1

Who Qualifies

To be eligible, the veteran must have no dishonorable discharge, and must meet all of the following:9

• Served during a wartime period
• Meet at least one of four conditions, any one of which satisfies the test on its own: at least 65 years old; a permanent and total disability; a patient in a nursing home for long-term care because of a disability; or getting Social Security Disability Insurance or Supplemental Security Income
• Need help with at least one daily activity such as bathing, dressing, or feeding
• Have a net worth below $163,699, a figure VA calculates from the claimant's and their dependents' assets and annual income together, excluding the primary home and a vehicle9

The VA enforces a 3-year look-back period on asset transfers.9

How to Apply

The Aid and Attendance request itself goes on VA Form 21-2680 (Examination for Housebound Status or Permanent Need for Regular Aid and Attendance), whose examination information section a medical examiner fills out. That form covers Aid and Attendance that will be added to monthly compensation benefits as well as Aid and Attendance added to a pension.10

What follows is the pension route, the one VA frames as available if you get a VA pension. On that route, a wartime veteran who isn't already receiving VA pension also files Form 21P-527EZ (Application for Veterans Pension), which is the means-tested wartime pension application. If the Aid and Attendance would instead be added to monthly compensation, 21P-527EZ is the wrong form, so confirm which benefit is in play before filing it.10 You can apply online at VA.gov, by mail to the VA Pension Intake Center, or in person at a VA regional office.10

Don't do this alone. The Connecticut Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Advocacy and Assistance staffs accredited Veteran Service Officers who represent veterans on U.S. VA claims, and the VA says a VSO representative's services on a VA benefit claim are always free, while an accredited attorney or claims agent can charge fees.5 Connecticut's Municipal Veterans Representative Program, directed by Connecticut General Statutes section 27-135, gives veterans an initial point of contact in each municipality.5

For the full application walkthrough, see our VA Aid and Attendance guide.

Veteran-Directed Care

The Veteran-Directed Care (VDC) program gives veterans a flexible budget to hire their own caregivers, including family members.11 The veteran (or their representative) decides who provides care, what services to purchase, and how to manage the budget.

A financial management services provider handles payroll and tax obligations, with support from Aging and Disability Network agencies such as Area Agencies on Aging.11 Eligibility requires VA enrollment, a clinical need for personal care services, and risk of institutional admission. This is a good option for veterans who want control over their care and prefer family members as caregivers.

In Connecticut, VDC is delivered through participating VA medical centers, so ask the social work department at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System in West Haven whether it's available in your area and confirm current openings before counting on it.

Community Care Through the MISSION Act

The VA MISSION Act of 2018 (Public Law 115-182) has, since 2019, let enrolled veterans get care from community (non-VA) providers at the VA's expense.4 Two things always apply: the veteran must be enrolled in or eligible for VA health care, and must have approval from their VA health care team before getting care from a community provider, except in cases like urgent or emergency care.4 Beyond that, at least one of these must be true:

• The VA can't offer an appointment within 20 days (primary care, mental health, and extended outpatient care) or 28 days (specialty care)
• The average drive to a VA facility exceeds 30 minutes (primary care, mental health, and extended outpatient care) or 60 minutes (specialty care)
• The care you need isn't available at any VA health facility
• You and your VA provider agree that care from an in-network community provider is in your best medical interest4

On May 19, 2025, the VA streamlined that best-medical-interest pathway by implementing the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act (Public Law 118-210, enacted January 2, 2025), removing the extra step of review by a second VA doctor and giving eligible veterans faster access to community care.4

For Connecticut veterans living far from a VA medical center, the MISSION Act can be the difference between getting timely care and waiting months.

How VA Benefits Work with Medicare and Medicaid

VA benefits don't replace Medicare or Medicaid, a veteran isn't required to enroll in Medicare to keep VA health care, and a veteran or surviving spouse can often receive VA pension and Medicaid at the same time.12,13 But they don't coordinate or pay each other: you choose which coverage to use every time you get care, and VA health care isn't creditable coverage for Medicare Part B, so delaying Part B while relying on VA alone leaves a lifetime late-enrollment penalty.12

• VA + Medicare: Many veterans use both. Medicare covers care from non-VA providers, while VA covers care at VA facilities. You can't bill both for the same service, but having both gives you more options.
• VA + Medicaid: In Connecticut, long-term-care Medicaid for aged, blind, and disabled residents is HUSKY C, administered by the Department of Social Services (DSS). Under general federal rules, a veteran's basic VA pension counts as income, but the Aid and Attendance portion paid to cover the cost of care is generally treated as reimbursement for medical expenses rather than countable income. That exclusion applies at the eligibility step only, though: income that was disregarded in determining eligibility counts again once someone is receiving long-term-care services, which can put the Aid and Attendance amount toward the cost of care. The federal post-eligibility rule for residents of a medical institution, 42 CFR 435.725(c), then requires the agency to deduct amounts in a set order before any of that income reaches the facility, starting with a personal needs allowance for the resident and, where a spouse or family remains at home, an additional amount for their maintenance needs, ahead of incurred medical or remedial care expenses no third party will pay.13 That section is written for medical institutions, not home and community-based waiver services, which a separate federal rule governs, and Connecticut is one of eight 209(b) states, so don't assume the federal rule settles how the state does its own share-of-cost math.13 Ask DSS which deductions apply to you and what each is worth.14
• The State Veterans Home in Rocky Hill runs the Levitow Healthcare Center, which is certified by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, so these payment sources can layer together.3

The exact treatment depends on HUSKY C income limits, the medically-needy spend-down, and how DSS counts each component, so confirm with Connecticut DSS or an accredited representative before relying on any specific outcome.14

How to Access VA Senior Care Benefits in Connecticut

Next Steps

If you're caring for a veteran who needs help, start by contacting the Connecticut Department of Veterans Affairs through portal.ct.gov/dva. They can assess which benefits apply and help you file.

Aid and Attendance isn't the only benefit worth claiming if the veteran owns their home. Connecticut runs its disabled veteran exemption on two separate tracks, a graduated one and one that exempts the primary residence in full at the top rating, claimed at your town assessor rather than through the VA, and our guide to the Connecticut disabled veteran property tax exemption explains which track applies and what proof is due when.

Learn More

The information on Brevy.com is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional legal, financial, or medical advice. Rules vary by state and program and change frequently. Always verify with the relevant agency or a qualified professional. Brevy is not a law firm, financial advisor, or healthcare provider.